Broken Hill artist Sharna Burcher was five years old when, inspired by her musician father, she gave her first performance, of Slim Dusty’s song ‘Duncan’. By the age of ten she was in a country band. Growing up, she listened to Slim, to Tammy Wynette and and Loretta Lynn, and to Kasey Chambers. It is Chambers’s father, Bill, with whom Burcher wrote her new single, ‘Backwards Town’, and he also produced the song, which is having its premiere on this site today.
Burcher is captivating from the very first notes in this song – like Chambers, she has a voice that is strong and true, as if she’s singing just to you. Not for a second do you doubt that you want to hear what she has to say. And in ‘Backwards Town’ she’s telling the story of life in a small town.
‘Life and the local rumour mill can get interesting sometimes when you’re growing up in a small town,’ Burcher says, ‘and I feel like the track brings a lot of fun and humour to the topic … The concept came from Bill and I growing up in small towns, so we both drew from our upbringings and life experiences. It was the easiest, most fun song I have ever written, and it seemed to write itself at times. It just flowed out very easily.’
Burcher has opened for acts such as Fanny Lumsden and Catherine Britt, but it’s Bill Chambers with whom she’ll share the stage on 14 November at the Family Hotel in Maitland, NSW, to launch the single. Beyond that there is her second album to look forward to – it will be released in early 2021.
‘Backwards Town’ is officially released on 30 October 2020.